The third volume in The Privateersman Mysteries

1794: Returning to England, Harry and James become embroiled in a vicious struggle between rival smugglers played out in the English Channel. Witnesses to a bloody confrontation, they flee to Deal?only to find that, behind its picturesque façade, the town is a haven for traders in contraband, seething with corruption and violence. The Ludlow brothers' search for a well-deserved rest quickly turns into a savage contest of wills between Harry and an unseen enemy who intends to protect his livelihood by any means available.

David Donachie (1944?2023) was born in Edinburgh. He always had an abiding interest in military history, including ancient Rome, the Middle Ages, the British navy of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and the clandestine services during the Second World War. He had more than fifty published novels to his credit, with over a million combined sales. David lived in Deal, the historic English seaport on the border of the English Channel and the North Sea.